Hemel latic

I haven't seen any of the friendlies but Nuttall hasn't become a bad player over the pre-season. Form is temporary, sounds like he's out of form. Perhaps it's just taking him longer to find form and fitness than some of the other lads? Give him a chance, great thing with this squad is we have options

Doubt it, persona non grata.

Same here Dave, I did it a couple of times last year at £25 a month but interestingly that extra fiver just pushes it into silly money for me.

Shez. Sounds like a pay off. Just Rooney to move on now?

I thought it looked as though Nuttall and Reid were beginning to form a promising partnership towards the end of the season. Reid looks like one of those guys that's only really at his best when 100% fit so I think the options up front will benefit him, we don't have to run him into the ground. Having his pace and skill in the team causes panic in the opposition. Timmy had lovely raw pace but Reid has greater skill and finishing ability to go with it. I think we'll start 442 with those two up top, although recognise things could change over the next three weeks.

Couldn't agree more with your final sentence. From our perspective we want a winning start on the opening day but more important that their club survives and continues under fit and proper ownership.

Kofi Moore on loan to Workington Town until 7 January 2024 (NPL premier division)

The closer we get to the season kicking off, the more pragmatic I become about our prospects. I was swept away with the euphoria and optimism of retaining a squad and adding some good players to it which is a novelty for us. However, looking around other teams have also had a good pre-season in terms of retention and additions. I too suspect it will be harder than perhaps we expect. But there's still reason to believe we should be a top 6 side with top 2 potential.

Thanks for the info. Is that Ellis Chapman at RB, or a young lad?

Aye, I could get behind that (your shirt design, for the avoidance of doubt).

Like it, could do with removing the third kit typo.

((Echo which covers Basildon, Canvey, Southend.))

Southend away, opening day, is a good opportunity to replicate the massive travelling army we took to Torquay last season.

I really enjoy the message board, particularly as an exile. I don't mind twitter either tbh, I just walk past the stuff I don't like and ignore it. The board, the pod, the blog and the call-in mean I've got as much Latics content as I could want and agree, much of the content across all four is interesting and well informed. I'm getting soft in my old age but I do wish we could be kinder to each other when we disagree. So big up to everyone on the board, looking forward to sharing the highs and lows of what should be an exciting season with all of you.

Good news that he's off the staff, hopefully his former wage contributes to the playing budget going forward.

Leutweiler to Port Vale, confirmed.

No one's pulled up any plants in recent years. You'd have to go back to 18/19 when Stockport and Torquay were promoted. Might expect Fylde to do best out of this year's crop, with their financial clout.

If I was going to the fans forum tomorrow night my question would be what's the target in the league this season? If I was the CEO setting the target in consultation with the manager, the target range would be 2nd-5th.

Rooney, Leutwiler, Burgess and Windass could have all moved on by the end of the week, with Leutweiler on the verge of a move to Port Vale. Any potential misgivings about Rooney aside that would be really good business.

I'm also a fan of the strategy of signing relatively young, hungry players, based in the North, whose careers are on an upward trajectory and come with good fitness records, they all played plenty of games last season. It's a massively welcome change from recent years. RB and a LW or LM are the two I want to see in now. They're clearly working on a RB and it sounds like there are a couple of irons in the fire. I'm confident we'll get our business done in good time. Even if nobody else came in we're light years ahead of where we've been in any pre-season for a number of years.

That's a nice little summary for me. I'm generally well disposed towards him. Last season was frustrating, he can't afford another like that at his age. I hope he has a really good pre-season and rolls back the years, it's probably unlikely but let's hope.

Is it right that two of the U18 lads (Atkinson and Okeke I think) haven't accepted the deals they were offered? Will we get fees if they rock up elsewhere?

I'm content the club will make the right decision in respect of fee v. free agent. Had been wondering, as with others, about the number of fees we've paid since Frank came in, think there's a few. I imagine you may have to wait longer for free agents as they weight up different options and their agent touts them round. Might be that where you pay a fee you can get the player, or the type of player, you want in quicker. As @Monty Burns says, having a settled squad for pre-season is very exciting and means we should hit the ground running on 5 August. Financially as well if it's in the region of £50k which was rumoured with Lundstram you can price it into the budget for a player in that position. Over the course of a 2 year contract 50k, or £500 a week, doesn't sound very much. Which is why I should never be CFO.

Courtney Duffus to Barrow, one year contract.

Of course I should have said, best chance to play in a cup final at Wembley again.